After more than 1,000 days, CEA settles contract
By Matthew Stagliano
A deal would be tough
Camden Education Association (CEA) members knew they had a tough road toward a fair agreement at the bargaining table before they even began to think about the negotiations process. Watching as the city’s public schools were losing precious funding to Renaissance schools and charter schools, they knew the school district and the city would be hard-pressed to dedicate resources to staff. They had many challenges in front of them, but despite those challenges, they knew they possessed the union power that would help them achieve a fair settlement.
Before the bargaining process began, CEA President Dr. Keith Benson set up a 10-member negations team led by veteran CEA members, Mike Warren and Larry Blake. Benson, with a deep understanding of the complex and intersecting forces working against public school employees in Camden, knew veteran leadership would be needed to keep members focused and engaged.
“Generally, the sense from our members is that we’re [the school district] being picked apart,” said CEA President Dr. Keith Benson. “Not only does the district disrespect the work we do, but they don’t care about us. Our members are seeing their district being whittled down each year as more schools close. It’s a disrespect to the occupation and the profession that our members have dedicated their lives to.”
The team knew that they would have to work together to engage their more than 900 members in sustained, collective action if they were going to win a fair deal at the table. That’s just what they did.
Negotiations begin, get stalled
As the negotiations began, it quickly became clear that the process would be long and drawn out. Because the Camden Board of Education experienced so much turnover, their negotiations teams stalled. CEA felt the board’s negotiation team was signaling that they did not have to work with CEA and intended to continue moving forward without an active collective bargaining agreement.
“There was so much turnover within the board,” said Mike Warren, co-chair of the CEA negotiations teams and high school social studies teacher. “That, coupled with the fact that Camden is a state takeover district and is operated by the state—as opposed to locally elected board of education—there was no impetus for the BOE to negotiate with us. So much of what we were dealing with was influenced by outside factors: political factors from the state and county levels, financial factors from the state. It all added to an unwillingness or inability to negotiate with our team. The spirit of good faith was not there.”
The city of Camden recently won the right to locally elected board of Education members, but the New Jersey Department of Education retains control over the school district.
The team was initially discouraged but found their resolve after coming together and making some changes on their own.
“For the first 500 days, our members were relatively calm,” said Larry Blake, co-chair of CEA’s negotiations team. “After that, and after three years without a contract, members became very upset and frustrated. It was disrespectful. We came to work every day through the pandemic.”
Negotiating during COVID
After nearly two full years without a contract, CEA members, like educators around the state, faced new challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic upended business as usual. Like all schools, Camden City Public Schools were forced to operate in an all-remote setting beginning in March of 2020 and would continue in the all-remote setting through the entire next school year.
“COVID-19 prolonged this process because we had to wait for PERC to rearrange itself and set up the process in an all-virtual setting,” said Mike Warren. PERC is the Public Employment Relations Commission, which is called in to help move negotiations toward a settlement when the board and association reach an impasse.
CEA found creative ways to engage its members in this challenging new reality. Whether it was organizing meetings over Zoom or sending more regular and creative emails, keeping members informed throughout the process proved to be integral to the successful organizing that would eventually lead to a fair contract.
Photo by Jennifer C. Marsh
A team effort: finding collective power
As 1,000 days without a contract approached, CEA ramped up its member-driven action.
“With so much going on, we were slow in getting our members to mobilize,” said Warren. “But as time went on, our members began to realize that we needed them to get this deal done. In the last six to eight months without a contract, our members began to act collectively, pushing the process forward. It was key to getting this deal.”
In the beginning, it was hard to get members involved, but Warren and Blake’s veteran leadership helped to capitalize on even small, incremental steps of momentum.
“If five people do it, it’s five more than we had,” said Warren. “If ten people do it, it’s ten more than we had.”
Eventually, hundreds of CEA members sent emails, made phone calls, participated in weekly demonstrations outside of district and city buildings, and shared their stories on social media.
CEA members even organized a teach-in outside of the board of education building in January of 2021. Teachers from around the school district showed up to teach their fully remote classes sitting outside to remind the board that despite the lack of a contract and the challenges posed by a pandemic, CEA members continued to work in the best interests of the city’s children.
“The teach-in made a big difference because parents really got to see us working for the kids, even in the freezing cold,” said Blake.
As the members became more involved in the fight for a fair contract, the local association had the leverage it needed at the table. The power of the CEA members made it clear that a deal needed to be reached and fast.
The coordinated, targeted member actions of the CEA members eventually led to a deal that would benefit the members of the CEA and the community at large.
“Our members’ commitment to their students and profession was powerful,” said Benson. “Other NJEA members from around the state and the county made it known that we were working without a contract for over 1,000 days. It was not just a local effort. Other locals banded together and helped us uplift our struggle.”
The fight for a fair deal had expanded beyond Camden. NJEA members statewide shared their support for CEA members on social media. CEA members felt that support.
“It felt like we weren’t negotiating with just the board, so when NJEA members from around the state shared their support, it made a big difference for us getting this settlement,” said Warren.
A deal for Camden
The settlement was a victory for CEA, the students in the school district, and the community. The five-year agreement offered increases in salaries, hourly rates and athletic stipends, something the members had been fighting to achieve for a long time. More importantly, the new deal provided movement for every certified member on the guide for four of the five years under the agreement. The CEA’s educational support professionals won movement across the guide on each of the five years of the deal. It was no small feat to win this deal for, and CEA members stood strong in their support for the negotiations team as it made significant strides in winning a fair deal for members.
“The response [of our members] has been very positive,” said Warren. “We made it a point to keep our members informed throughout the process. After a while, it didn’t look like we would come to a deal before we went back to work in September of 2021. When we were able to get the deal done when we did, it really boosted the approval of our members.”
Moving forward, CEA members have the power and the know-how to stand up and speak out about Camden’s most pressing issues. Throughout the process, every member kept their students and their community as motivation to keep fighting for a fair agreement. This same power will move those members to better advocate for the children they teach and the community to which they’ve dedicated their professional lives.
“As an organization, we, the CEA, advocate for everyone in the community to make a decent wage, no matter what job you’re doing, because you’re working,” said Benson as he reflected on the impact this deal would have on the city of Camden in the years to come. “It all impacts education at the end of the day. Every worker deserves the right to take home a livable wage.
In the end, CEA plans to help workers of all professions advocate for better working conditions because working in solidarity with other marginalized voices will have the most influence on the future of Camden.
Photos by Camden Education Association member Genese Dean, unless otherwise noted.
Matthew Stagliano is an associate director in the NJEA Communications Division. He can be reached at mstagliano@njea.org.